Gas-heated flatiron

ABSTRACT

A gas-heated flatiron having a soleplate on which a cover shell is mounted which is separated into a main chamber and a rear chamber spaced apart by a heat-insulating cross partition, the main chamber supporting a housing for a heat-radiating infrared ray emitting flame plate connected to the rear chamber through a gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe facing a nozzle housed in said rear chamber. The nozzle being connectable to a gas supply source and the rear chamber being open to atmosphere so that injection of gas and entrained air is injectable into said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe. Said nozzle is accessible from outside and thereby interchangeable without having to disassemble the flatiron.

United States Patent Inventor Gustavo Rivas Arbulo Montevideo. Uruguay Appl. No 873,918 Filed Nov. 4, 1969 Patented July 13, 1971 Assignee Tem Sociedad Anonima Montevideo, Uruguay Priority Oct. 4, 1968 Brazil 204 546 GAS-HEATED FLATIRON 14 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 38/82, 126/41 1 Int. Cl D061 75/02, D06f 75/08 Field of Search 313/82;

Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney-Toshof and Osheroff ABSTRACT: A gas-heated flatiron having a soleplate on which a cover shell is mounted which is separated into a main chamber and a rear chamber spaced apart by a heat-insulating cross partition, the main chamber supporting a housing for a heat-radiating infrared ray emitting flame plate connected to the rear chamber through a gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe facing a nozzle housed in said rear chamber. The nozzle being connectable to a gas supply source and the rear chamber being open to atmosphere so that injection of gas and entrained air is injectable into said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe. Said nozzle is accessible from outside and thereby interchangeable without having to disassemble the flatiron.

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ATTORNEY- GAS-HEATED FLATIRON BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION particularly useful in those areas of the country where portable gas containers are used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The gas-heated flatiron according to the present invention comprises a soleplate defining a smoothing plane and having a front end portion and a rear end portion; a cover shell is mounted on said soleplate and projects beyond said rear end portion and is located above said smoothing plane. The flatiron is further provided with an operating handle mounted on said cover shell. The cover shell defines with said soleplate and said partition a main chamber and a rear chamber, the latter projecting beyond the rear end portion of said soleplate. The rear chamber is heat insulatedly separated from said main chamber by said heat-insulating cross partition. A bell-shaped housing is supported by said cover shell within said main chamber and has a heat-radiating infrared ray emitting flame plate mounted therein. The flame plate has a plurality of gaseous combustion mixture passages directed towards the soleplate and is spaced apart therefrom. A gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe enters said housing above said flame plate. The feeding pipe sealingly passes through the heat-insulating cross partition and the housing. Furthermore, a nozzle is housed in said rear chamber and has its ejector axis directed into said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe. The nozzle is accessible from outside, so that it can be easily cleaned and/or replaced. A gas-feeding flexible conduit member is connected to the nozzle and supported by the operating handle. The gas-feeding conduit member is connectable to a gas supply source through valve means which control the flow of gas towards the nozzle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a gasheated flatiron of simple structure and easy handling, which may operate continuously without overheating the soleplate, because the flame plate arrangement is balanced as to its thermical output, at the same time as the distance existing between the flame plate and the soleplate is such, that the flame cannot back away.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a flatiron having a gas injector nozzle which is accessible from outside, so that in case of obstruction it may be easily cleaned without having to disassemble the structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to explain the present invention with more specific details, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment is shown by way of example, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the flatiron of the present invention, including valve means for controlling the flow of gas and further shows part of a gas tank which does not form part of the present invention and which represents the gas supply source.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the flatiron.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cover shell (which has been turned upside down) and the means contained therein, with the flame plate only partially shown and with the soleplate having been removed.

FIG. 4 is a detail, in perspective view, of the nozzle and the means mounting said nozzle in the rear chamber of the cover shell.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the nozzle member.

. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tool for cleaning the nozzle.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the heat-radiating infrared ray emitting flame plate.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation seen from the inside of one-half of the operating handle, and

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal section of the valve means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As may be appreciated from FIG. 1, the flatiron 10 of the present invention, comprises a soleplate 11 defining a smoothing plane 12. The soleplate 11 has a front end portion 13 (see FIG. 2) and a rear end portion 14. Within the soleplate III, a front stud 15 and a pair of rear studs-only one being visible in FIG. 2 and identified by reference numeral ll6are mounted defining an isosceles triangle. A cover shell 17 is mounted on said soleplate l1 and having countersunk hole portions 18 through which said studs 15, 16 pass. Nuts 19 are screwed on said studs 15, 16 and retain the cover shell 17 on said soleplate 11.

The inside of the cover shell 17 (see FIG. 3) is divided by a heat-insulating cross partition 20 into a main chamber 21 and a rear chamber 22. The sidewall portions of the cover shell 17 corresponding to the main chamber 21 define cutout portions 23, which give access to outside air into said main chamber 21.

The cover shell 17 is longer than said soleplate 11, so that the rear portion of the said cover shell 17 projects beyond and above the rear end portion 13 of the soleplate 11, and thus becomes located above said smoothing plane 12. More particularly, the heat-insulating cross partition 20 is still within the field of the soleplate 11, but the main portion of said rear chamber 22 is outside of the range of said soleplate 11. The backwardly sloped upper zone 22 of said cover shell 17, which contains said countersunk hole portions 18, furthermore defines four embossed portions 25 (only two being visible in FIG. 2), connected by means of spot welding to four complementary embossed portions 26 (only two being visible in FIG. 3), forming part of a spaced-apart platform 27 having a pair of upwardly projecting ears 28, 29. The platform 27 defines an outer-channelled portion 30, having spaced-apart spacer projections 31 and holes 32 (only one being visible in FIG. 2), giving access to nuts 19.

A two-part assembled operating handle 33, molded from a thermal insulating material, is mounted on said platform 27 and more particularly on said spacer projections 31, so that good air circulation is assured to cooperate in cooling the handle 33 with regard to the heat-emitting means to be described later on, and housed within the main chamber 21 as well as the heat emitted by the soleplate 11. The rear leg 34, formed by the operating handle halves 40,41, provides a projecting member 35 which, as is well known in the art,.enables placing the iron in an upraised inoperative position by placing it on said projecting member 35 and the rear face 36 cover shell 17. Each of the half handle portions 40, 41 of handle 33 has at its front end portion, a thumb-accomodating recess 37 (FIG. 1). One of the operating handle halves and more particularly, handle half 40, shown in FIG. 2, has a reinforced opening sup porting a cord lift bushing 38, through which a gas-feeding flexible conduit member 39 passes.

As to the specific details of the operating handle 33, the latter consists of the pair of operating handle halves 40 (FIG. 2) and 41 (FIG. 8). The operating handle half 41 comprises a pair of front bushings 42, 43 and a pair of rear bushings 44, 45 arranged within the inside of said handle half 41. Handle half 41 is first mounted on the platform 27, so that the bushings 43,

45 face the elongated slots 46, 47 respectively, and can then be connected to said upwardly projecting ears 28, 29 by pertinent bolts 48, 49, respectively. Thereafter, the other operating handle half 40 is mounted onto the platform and connected to the handle half 41 by means of a pair of screws 50, 51 (FIG. 2) which are housed in said handle half 40 and screwed into said bushings 42, 44 of the other handle half 41 (FIG. 8), respectively.

Within the main chamber 21 a bell-shaped housing 52 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is spotwelded by its roof 53 to the backwardly sloped upper zone 24 of the cover shell 17. The spotwelded zones are identified by reference numeral 54. The bell-shaped housing 52 has its opening faced towards the soleplate 11,

ing said front end portion and a rear chamber projecting beyond said rear end portion of said soleplate, said rear chamber being heat insulatedly separated from said main chamber by said heat-insulating cross partition, a bell-shaped housing supported by said cover shell within said main chamber and having a heat-radiating infrared ray emitting flame plate mounted in said housing, said flame plate having a plurality of gaseous combustion mixture passages directed towards said soleplate and being spaced apart therefrom, a gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe having a first open end and a second open end, said first open end being housed in said housing above said flame plate, said second open end being housed in said rear chamber, said feeding pipe sealingly passing through said partition and said housing, a nozzle defining an ejector axis and being housed in said rear chamber and having its ejector axis directed into said second open end, said nozzle being accessible from outside, and a gas-feeding flexible conduit member connected to said nozzle and supported by said operating handle, said gas-feeding conduit member being connectable to a gas supply source and having valve means for controlling the flow of gas towards said nozzle.

2. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein the said cover shell includes a backwardly sloped upper zone, a platform mounted on said upper zone and spaced apart therefrom, said platform having a pair of spaced-apart upwardly projecting ears, an outer channelled portion in said platform, spacer projections in said outer channelled portion, said operating handle consisting of two operating handle halves, one of said handle halves being connected to said upwardly projecting ears, while the other handle half is connected to said one handle half, said handle halves are mounted on said spacer projections.

3. The gas heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said heat-insulating cross partition includes a metal plate supported by said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe, said metal plate having a pair of perpendicularly projecting tongue members adapted to rest on said soleplate and a pair of asbestos layers, one attached to each side of said metal plate.

4. The gas heated flatiron as defined in claim 3, wherein said metal plate has lug members bent over said asbestos layers to retain said asbestos layers adjacent said metal plate.

5. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said bell-shaped housing has a roof, spotwelded to said cover shell, said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe sealingly entering said bell-shaped housing and said first open end being arranged between said roof and said flame plate.

6. The gas heated flatiron as defined in claim 5, wherein the portion of said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe housed in said housing is flat.

7. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said bell-shaped housing has a free edge provided with bendable lugs, said flame plate being surrounded by a heat-resistant sealing strip in sealing contact with said housing, said bendable lugs being bent over said flame plate and retaining it in said housing.

8. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 7, wherein said gaseous combustion mixture passages of said flame plate in the central portion thereof are clogged by means of sealing tongues.

9. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said second open end of said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe is a hornlike opening.

10. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said nozzle is screwed into a nozzle member supported by bracket means, in turn supported by said cover shell, said bracket means further supporting an access plate partially closing said rear chamber and allowing access from outside to said nozzle.

11. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 10, wherein said noz'zle member has a rigid conduit member connected to said nozzle and to said gas-feeding flexible conduit member, a cord lift bushing supported by said handle, said gas-feeding flexible conduit member passing through said cord lift bush- 2. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said cover shell has cutout portions within the zone corresponding to said main chamber, said cutout portion being adjacent to said soleplate.

13. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said valve means include a spout member, a screw-threaded bushing slidably mounted on said spout member and including an integral nut end portion, a hanger pivotally connected to said nut end portion, said spout member being adapted to be connected through said bushing to said gas supply source, said spout member being further connected to a needle flow control valve, said needle flow control valve being further connected to a diaphragm valve, and said diaphragm valve being further connected to said gas-feeding flexible conduit member.

14. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said soleplate defines in its front portion a tip, a pair of elongated recesses arranged adjacent said tip one on each side of said tip to facilitate ironing garments having knobs and the like in the portion around said nob. 

1. A gas-heated flatiron, comprising a soleplate defining a smoothing plane and having a front end portion and a rear end portion, a cover shell mounted on said soleplate and projecting beyond said rear end portion and being located above said smoothing plane, an operating handle mounted on said cover shell, a heat-insulating cross partition, said cover shell defining with said soleplate and said partition a main chamber including said front end portion and a rear chamber projecting beyond said rear end portion of said soleplate, said rear chamber being heat insulatedly separated from said main chamber by said heatinsulating cross partition, a bell-shaped housing supported by said cover shell within said main chamber and having a heatradiating infrared ray emitting flame plate mounted in said housing, said flame plate having a plurality of gaseous combustion mixture passages directed towards said soleplate and being spaced apart therefrom, a gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe having a first open end and a second open end, said first open end being housed in said housing above said flame plate, said second open end being housed in said rear chamber, said feeding pipe sealingly passing through said partition and said housing, a nozzle defining an ejector axis and being housed in said rear chamber and having its ejector axis directed into said second open end, said nozzle being accessible from outside, and a gas-feeding flexible conduit member connected to said nozzle and supported by said operating handle, said gas-feeding conduit member being connectable to a gas supply source and having valve means for controlling the flow of gas towards said nozzle.
 2. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein the said cover shell includes a backwardly sloped upper zone, a platform mounted on said upper zone and spaced apart therefrom, said platform having a pair of spaced-apart upwardly projecting ears, an outer channelled portion in said platform, spacer projections in said outer channelled portion, said operating handle consisting of two operating handle halves, one of said handle halves being connected to said upwardly projecting ears, while the other handle half is connected to said one handle half, said handle halves are mounted on said spacer projections.
 3. The gas heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said heat-insulating cross partition includes a metal plate supported by said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe, said metal plate having a pair of perpendicularly projecting tongue members adapted to rest on said soleplate and a pair of asbestos layers, one attached to each side of said metal plate.
 4. The gas heated flatiron as defined in claim 3, wherein said metal plate has lug members bent over said asbestos layers to retain said asbestos layers adjacent said metal plate.
 5. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said bell-shaped housing has a roof, spotwelded to said cover shell, said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe sealingly Entering said bell-shaped housing and said first open end being arranged between said roof and said flame plate.
 6. The gas heated flatiron as defined in claim 5, wherein the portion of said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe housed in said housing is flat.
 7. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said bell-shaped housing has a free edge provided with bendable lugs, said flame plate being surrounded by a heat-resistant sealing strip in sealing contact with said housing, said bendable lugs being bent over said flame plate and retaining it in said housing.
 8. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 7, wherein said gaseous combustion mixture passages of said flame plate in the central portion thereof are clogged by means of sealing tongues.
 9. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said second open end of said gaseous combustion mixture feeding pipe is a hornlike opening.
 10. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said nozzle is screwed into a nozzle member supported by bracket means, in turn supported by said cover shell, said bracket means further supporting an access plate partially closing said rear chamber and allowing access from outside to said nozzle.
 11. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 10, wherein said nozzle member has a rigid conduit member connected to said nozzle and to said gas-feeding flexible conduit member, a cord lift bushing supported by said handle, said gas-feeding flexible conduit member passing through said cord lift bushing.
 12. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said cover shell has cutout portions within the zone corresponding to said main chamber, said cutout portion being adjacent to said soleplate.
 13. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said valve means include a spout member, a screw-threaded bushing slidably mounted on said spout member and including an integral nut end portion, a hanger pivotally connected to said nut end portion, said spout member being adapted to be connected through said bushing to said gas supply source, said spout member being further connected to a needle flow control valve, said needle flow control valve being further connected to a diaphragm valve, and said diaphragm valve being further connected to said gas-feeding flexible conduit member.
 14. The gas-heated flatiron as defined in claim 1, wherein said soleplate defines in its front portion a tip, a pair of elongated recesses arranged adjacent said tip one on each side of said tip to facilitate ironing garments having knobs and the like in the portion around said nob. 